![]() ![]() The L81 V6 from the L-Series and five-speed Aisin AF33 automatic transmission were initially offered, but starting in 2004, all six-cylinder Vues were equipped with Honda's 250-horsepower (190 kW) J35A3 engine and a Honda transmission. If the Vue with the Honda V-6 does 0 to 60 mph in less than seven seconds, we don't care if farm animals were involved.Four-cylinder Vues use the Ecotec I4. And the five pages of information and specifications handed out to journalists mention Honda not once. At the New York auto show, where the Vue Red Line was first displayed to the public, Saturn chose not to have any sort of press conference. You'll remember that Saturn was created to compete directly with the likes of Honda. No matter the motivations behind the deal, one thing is certain: It's a thorny issue for Saturn marketing types, who clearly want to promote what is, by any measure, an excellent engine without calling into question the quality of GM parts or crediting the name of a competitor, in this case Honda. Some within Honda of America say there never was an engine-sharing deal, and they simply did all the engineering on the 3.5-liter engine (GM denies that) and sold it for a good price, that the Isuzu engine deal had nothing to do with it, and neither did OnStar. Why neither of those GM-engineered engines was used in the Vue the company will not say. GM's official story is that the deal with Honda was not caused by deficiencies in its own engine lineup, citing a new DOHC 3.6-liter V-6 that will debut in the CTS and Buick Rendezvous Ultra this fall, and a 3.5-liter OHV V-6 coming in the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu that will add the fuel-saving Displacement on Demand technology shortly after. Some are sure that it's simply GM buying technology it couldn't make itself others insist it was the management team at GM trying to light a fire under GM Powertrain still others are convinced it's a way for Japanese beancounters to make extra Yankee dollars in case their home market tanked (it did) and the niche nuts are sure it has to do with someone having pictures of someone else with farm animals. Since then, OnStar has developed into the premier service of its kind, with limited but growing appeal for consumers, but that hasn't slowed the rumor mill regarding the V-6 going to Saturn. It was hard for traditional gearheads to imagine one of the world's great engine makers giving up a primo powerplant in exchange for something as ephemeral as directions to the best Italian restaurant in Omaha. ![]() The agreement was also billed as "the first step in a new relationship that may lead to future cooperation in other areas," which seemed to bear fruit when the companies announced early in 2000 that GM would supply Honda with a variation of its OnStar in-car safety/guidance/concierge service. For now, though, the Vue will be the only GM product to use the motor. The original agreement also called for GM to purchase about 90,000 V-6s. When GM and Honda announced this deal in December 1999, it was billed as a "powertrain cross-supply arrangement" that would see Honda getting diesel engines from GM's Isuzu affiliate for use in Europe in exchange for an unnamed V-6. If you think this deal was done when GM phoned Tokyo one day and ordered engines like so many pizzas (with variable valve timing, please), then you live a sane and sensible life. In all, GM thinks it will be able to move every one of the 50,000 engines per year it will get from Japan. This engine will be available as an option with regular versions of the Vue and as the heart of Saturn's Red Line performance package, pictured here. It's also a smoother, more powerful engine (by 69 hp) than the GM 3.0-liter V-6 it replaces. This won't make you the terror of your intersection runoffs, but it should make you the Wyatt Earp of sport-cutes. That's 10 more horsepower than Honda lists for its own Pilot sport-ute and 10 fewer than the Acura MDX sport-ute can claim, although both use the same basic powerplant. That would be the Saturn Vue with the 3.5-liter V-6 designed and built by Honda that will supply 250 horsepower at 5800 rpm and 242 pound-feet of torque at 4500 rpm and is supposed to deliver a 0-to-60 time of about seven seconds through a five-speed automatic transmission. ![]()
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